Chapter 123: Bones
Although Sakamoto Ken could predict that Chainsaw Man would definitely get an Animation Adaptation, he didn’t expect it to happen so soon.
After all, it had only been serialized for two months, updating to episode 10.
Even counting the manuscripts already handed to Kaji Keiko, it was only about twenty-something episodes.
In the previous life, Chainsaw Man《 》began serialization in 2018, and the animation PV was released in 2021, with the animation adaptation airing a year later in 2022.
Among the works Sakamoto Ken knew, the fastest to get an animation adaptation was probably《 Prince of Tennis》, which began serialization in 1999 and had its animation premiere in 2001.
At such a speed, Sakamoto Ken was worried whether it would be treated as a small project, handed to some unknown Production Company, which could go online quickly but with poor quality.
But when Sakamoto Ken met Editor Kaji and arrived at the Meeting Room together, he learned that the Production Company was actually Bones.
Hearing this name, Sakamoto Ken felt a huge weight lift from his heart.
Bones is absolutely one of the most renowned names in the animation industry.
Moreover, Bones had sent staff to discuss together, which made Sakamoto Ken feel much more reliable.
In the previous life,《 Chainsaw Man》 was produced by MAPPA, but times were different; at this point in time, MAPPA was just a company established a few years ago and was busy with the production of《 Ushio and Tora》.
And Bones excelled precisely in high-quality combat scenes.
《Fullmetal Alchemist》 is Bones’ heavyweight representative work, and even earlier, the《 Cowboy Bebop》 produced at the founding of Bones was included in Japan’s classic animation guide as one of thirty classic cases in animation history.
The meeting lasted the entire morning, and Sakamoto Ken got a good grasp of the current situation.
An investment company in the entertainment industry took a liking to Chainsaw Man, hoping to secure the Copyright for Chainsaw Man and contacted Bones for Cooperation.
Sakamoto Ken had never heard of this company called NESX, but according to their introduction, the company had been established for over twenty years, with investments in industries like real industry, technology, entertainment, and more, and many well-known anime had their investments.
Previously, they held a small share in the Production Committee or invested in industry merchandise, without public knowledge.
Unlike the traditional Production Committee, NESX hoped to Solely Produce this time, and for that, they could pay a generous royalty usage fee.
As an investment company, not knowing their name didn’t matter, as long as they paid enough money, since the production was handed to Bones.
Everyone had great trust in Bones’ capabilities.
For the manga itself, Sakamoto Ken could draw《 Chainsaw Man》 based on Memory, but Adaptation was different.
Since the adaptation of this《 Chainsaw Man》 was much earlier than in the previous life, neither the Production Company, Director, nor Screenwriter could replicate the previous life’s situation.
But Sakamoto Ken thought that having Bones produce it might even yield better results.
Next, Sakamoto Ken stayed at Shueisha for the whole day; he showed them the Storyboard Drafts of the follow-up content he brought and explained the character designs, Plot, and world view in detail.
Although only up to episode 10 had been serialized, the Storyboard Drafts had actually progressed to episode 28, which could also serve as references for Screenwriter and Storyboard in the Animation Adaptation.
Other manga, if they started animation adaptation during serialization, might have the animation catch up to the manga and then go off the rails with original plotting, but that definitely wouldn’t happen here.
If worst came to worst, he could pull an all-nighter for a week and draw the entire Storyboard Draft for《 Chainsaw Man》.
This Person in Charge from NESX was very professional, understanding every Detail of the Plot in《 Chainsaw Man》; she had carefully read the original work before coming and had a very serious attitude.
In the end, the finalized plan was that the Investor would pay a copyright usage fee, of which 15 million Yen would go to Sakamoto Ken, but not all at once—instead divided into stages over the entire production cycle.
Then, Sakamoto Ken met privately with this Person in Charge named Hanabe Kyoko, who proposed specially hiring Sakamoto Ken as Animation Consultant to follow the entire animation project.
For this, they offered a salary of 2 million Yen per month.
2 million Yen wasn’t an unattainable number for Sakamoto Ken now; it was about two-thirds of his monthly Original Manuscript Fee.
But the workload was very light; apart from using him for Promotion like “the Author personally involved in production,” there was basically no substantial work.
What caught Sakamoto Ken’s eye a bit more was the Breach of Contract Fee amount for the “Animation Consultant” position.
The stipulated Breach of Contract Fee was: ten times the total Remuneration received.
If the other party breached, it was also this amount as Breach of Contract Fee, and already paid Remuneration didn’t need to be returned.
According to Hanabe, this was a hard rule of their company, and she had no authority to change it.
Shueisha’s legal department colleagues helped review the Contract; Sakamoto Ken and the company’s Lawyer looked it over carefully several times—actually, as long as he smoothly completed the work, cooperated with no more than three days of consultant-related work per month, and abided by the confidentiality clauses, there was no risk of breach.
Sakamoto Ken had no issue with confidentiality; it just meant not revealing animation information before the official announcement and not Cooperating with competing companies.
As for the three days of consultant work per month, he could treat it as a Part-time Job paying 600,000 Yen per day.
After all, it was a work from his own pen; compared to most Authors having no Right to Speak on Animation Adaptation, NESX was very respectful of him as the Author.
This was Sakamoto Ken’s first time facing an Animation Adaptation; next came signing one contract after another—Shueisha, NESX, Bones, and Sakamoto Ken all signed and stamped the Contract and confidentiality agreements.
Thus, the Animation Adaptation of《 Chainsaw Man》 was officially set to begin advancing.
According to Sakamoto Ken’s own estimate, by the time《 Chainsaw Man》 finished serialization, it would be about time for the animation to air.
This way, the manga and animation could promote each other, and with several Volumes definitely published by then, sales could see an explosive growth.
……
After the meeting, Sakamoto Ken, Kaji Keiko, and Chief Editor Ono Tomohiro returned to the Editorial Department together.
As soon as they stepped into the slightly messy space of the Editorial Department, Chief Editor Ono stopped.
He turned to face everyone, his face showing uncontainable Excitement, and happily clapped his hands.
“Everyone, everyone!”
The Editors who had been busy with their own tasks all looked up, turning their gazes to the Doorway.
Ono Tomohiro cleared his throat and announced loudly: “I have great news to share with everyone!”
He stepped aside, pushing Sakamoto Ken in front of everyone, patted his shoulder, and said: “Our Sakamoto Sensei’s work—《Chainsaw Man》, is about to get an Animation Adaptation! Congratulations, Sakamoto Sensei!”
As his words fell, the entire Editorial Department fell into brief silence, followed by an outburst of warm applause and exclamations.
“Animation Adaptation?!”
“Chainsaw Man has only been serialized for a month, right?!”
“Real or fake?!”
Editor Uchimura, whose workstation was closest, even stood up directly from his seat, his face full of disbelief: “Serialized for just a month and already confirmed for Animation Adaptation? This breaks JUMP’s historical record!”
He remembered the fastest record was announcing animation adaptation after a year of serialization.
Announcing animation adaptation after one month of serialization only happened with media comprehensive projects hyped by entertainment capital, advancing novel, manga, animation, game, and even live-action film development simultaneously.
Like《 Love Live!》, and the recently heavily promoted《 BanG Dream!》.
For a serialized manga like《 Chainsaw Man》, and a Newcomer’s New Work at that, announcing Animation Adaptation after one month of publication was simply unprecedented.
Chief Editor Ono waved his hand with a smile and said: “The Investor is particularly bullish on this work; it’s normal, actually. I’ve seen the current original manuscripts and Sakamoto Sensei’s follow-up Storyboard Drafts, and I can feel the unique spirit in the work.”
“Of course.” He changed tone, his gaze turning to Kaji Keiko standing beside Sakamoto Ken, “Being able to finalize the Animation Adaptation so quickly this time is also thanks especially to Kaji!”
“Recently, for promoting《 Chainsaw Man》, she contacted various partners, did a lot of recommendation work. I saw her staying at the company very late for several days, working alone on PPTs. This Investor NESX came after seeing Editor Kaji’s recommendation presentation.”
Hearing the Chief Editor’s words, Sakamoto Ken immediately turned to look at Kaji Keiko.
He then noticed that Kaji Keiko indeed had unmistakable dark circles under her eyes, and a trace of fatigue in her gaze, though it had been masked by her professional smile earlier.
So, Editor Kaji had put in so much behind-the-scenes effort for his work…
Sakamoto Ken looked at Kaji Keiko and said solemnly: “Thank you, Editor Kaji.”
Kaji Keiko felt a bit embarrassed being looked at by him, waved her hands hurriedly, a blush inexplicably rising on her face: “No, no, Sakamoto Sensei, please don’t say that! I should be the one thanking Sakamoto Sensei.”
“Meeting Sakamoto Sensei is the greatest luck in my Career.” She continued, “To be honest, if I hadn’t been in charge of judging the JUMP+ Newcomer Award submissions back then, I might not have had the chance to meet Sakamoto Sensei, and would still be buried in manuscript piles every day…”
Remembering those days of painstakingly searching through massive Submissions, Kaji Keiko was full of emotion.
The writers she managed before couldn’t persist, and if it continued, she really would be assigned to marginal posts, never able to become a true Editor-in-charge.
Seeing Kaji Keiko’s sincere appearance, Sakamoto Ken knew well how important a responsible Editor was for a work.
He didn’t need Editor Kaji’s help with Creation, but there was plenty of work outside of Creation.
Sakamoto Ken smiled and said: “There will be a lot to trouble you with for the upcoming Animation Adaptation work, so I’ll have to ask Editor Kaji for your help.”
“Don’t worry!” Kaji Keiko immediately straightened her back, patted her chest forcefully, and guaranteed with firm eyes: “For everything about《 Chainsaw Man》, I will give it my all!”
It’s the end of the month, does anyone have Monthly Tickets left to cast~
